who are you?

[joekerr31]

one thing that i haven't brought up on here and that i've been thinking about lately is 'who are you?" or "who am i?"

at first glance this seems like a pretty silly question. but im beginning to really think its the key to life.

from a very young age we are raised to be part of the herd. school alone is a HUGE indoctrination process that gets you focused on jumping through the hoops and keeping up with the rest of the herd.

and while its a good thing, as it helps you grow, when you finally are an adult and 'living' life, suddenly you find yourself as this human being that has been fed so many thoughts by society that its hard to decipher what thoughts are your own and which you have simply accepted because they have been advantageous in your journey to find a place in society.

when you start to really think about 'who am i?" its not an easy question to answer. when you think about how much of who you are is conditioning.

i mean, would you be exactly who you are if you were suddenly living in china? or australia? or would you suddenly start to exhibit new traits?

i think perhaps the real goal in life is to reach a state where you can say: "I now know who i am."

im beginning to think whats most important in life is to reach a state of authenticity. and if that means being a sappy romantic or a bank robber - if its who you TRULY are inside, then thats what you should be.

i also think one of the biggest problems in dealing with women is that most guys don't know who they truly are. as a result, when a woman starts messing with their head, its extremely painful.

but when you are who you are - with 100% authenticity - nothing can change that. you can brush off any attempts by others to change you with absolutely no effort. you become elemental if you will - pure.

anyway, i dont know if anyone knows what im getting at here. i havent done the best job of explaining it.

i think we are put on this planet to be whoever we ARE. but instead we water down who we are, remold ourselves, twist and pull and push at who we are to fit in with society. and i think that in denying our true selves we are throwing our lives away. instead of going with the flow we are fighting against the current - not hte current of society (that we flow with) but the current of our own natures.

anyway, none of this disqualifies the rules we talk about here. I'm not saying if your an AFC just accept it. far from it. i don't believe an AFC natural exists in nature. I think AFC is a result of what im talking about here - an AFC is merely a man who doesn't know who he truly is and who is at constant battle with himself.

anyway, if you kind of know what im getting at here it would be good to hear further thoughts.

 

[guru1000]

When you know who you are and you accept it; only then will tranquility set in. If you dont accept it and refuse to change that maketh a fool.

 

[KontrollerX]

We're a mixture of the society's social conditioning that we grew up in and from there whatever we then decide upon to define ourselves as.

If left to our own devices we would've grown up in the wild as feral children.

So its strange but true to say perhaps we never can fully be our own person as from all the social conditioning that we undergo we are basically bits and pieces of people long dead that have created civilization and language before us and for us.

Regardless to get where most of us want to be in life we have to work within this system that has been set up for us and carve our own niche out in it and find where and how we work in it the best and that is how we find out who we are in our civilization.

 

[st_99]

Good post joekerr, as usual.

I agree with everything you're saying in that we really should be living our lives in unison with who we really are. Thats the only way you're going to get satisfaction in life.

I guess the question becomes how do you find out who you really are?

 

[LeftyLoosey]

You are a genetic baseline that has been molded by life experience. You can know what excites you, what your values are, what kind of people you're drawn to, and what you want to do with your life, but all of these things are just a product of your life experiences and influences.

I saw a documentary once on a teenage girl that lived in a closet until she was 15 or so. She was just an animal, like a dog, because she had no life experience to shape her.

So, "who you are" is something that changes day-to-day, though as you grow older, the influence of each passing day becomes a smaller fraction of your total life experience, and you begin to reach a steady-state where "who you are" solidifies. You'll know who you are when you're lying on your deathbed more so than at any other time in your life.

The question itself is too vague to warrant an answer. You should be asking yourself "what are my values, and what are my passions?"

 

[azanon]

The question itself is too vague to warrant an answer. You should be asking yourself "what are my values, and what are my passions?"

Well, its not vague in that I think his point was to say, focus on "Who am I", as opposed to what would society have me (us) to be. As a humanist, I'm a big fan of that way of thinking. I champion learning to think for yourself, and pretty much oppose any dogma that would want to do the thinking for you. The most powerful people think for themselves.

 

[guru1000]

I thought I would respond to this post correctly because I asked myself the same question this morning.

You are a sum of what you repeatedly do.

So take a look at all your actions on a day to day basis and that is who you are.

Thoughts lead to actions. Action leads to results. Results lead to destiny.
Shortcut: Thoughts predetermine your destiny.

Your thoughts determine who you are.